Gardeners who have rhubarb in their garden have been issued with an alert.

       Those with rhubarb in their garden are being warned to not harvest in the first season after planting.

       Most rhubarb varieties can be harvested from late April or May and will continue to flourish through the summer.

       However, to allow the plants to establish a strong root system and properly settle in your garden you should not harvest in the first season after planting. The first year is crucial for the rhubarb plant to develop underground.

       And people should only harvest only lightly in the second season to avoid weakening the crowns.

       READ MORE: Rhubarb will be full of 'vigour' if gardeners do two jobs in autumn

       If you are eager for an early harvest of tender and pink rhubarb you can use the method of ‘forcing’ by covering the crowns in December or January with a layer of straw or bracken and cover over with an upturned bucket or dustbin in mid-winter to exclude light.

       Gardeners who do this should make sure they leave not pull the crowns for the rest of the season.

       The method of 'forcing' helps produce sweeter, more tender stalks in around just four weeks.

       Rhubarb varieties like 'Timperley Early' are ideal for forcing.

       Those who are keen for an even earlier harvest can lift some roots in November.

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       To be able to do this leave the lifted roots outside for up to two weeks prior to potting to expose them to more cold - this is needed to overcome dormancy - as Rhubarb requires seven to nine weeks of cold weather below 3C.

       Then pot up with compost and bring into a cool room or greenhouse at a temperature of between 7-16C.

       Cover the rhubarb with buckets to exclude light and keep the roots damp but not wet. Stalks can usually be harvested in five weeks.

       However gardeners are warmed that crowns forced in this way are usually much weakened and therefore discarded after harvest.